The short answer: a good therapy progress report answers three questions for every goal: where did the child start, where are they now, and what happens next? It uses the same measure as the goal itself, adds one plain sentence about what that change looks like in daily life, and ends with something specific the family can do at home.
Instead of "Ahmed is doing well and responding to therapy," write: "Ahmed now asks for a break using his break card in 8 of 10 opportunities, up from 2 of 10 in March. At home, you'll likely see fewer moments where he leaves the table without warning."
If you've already written measurable goals, most of the hard work is done. The report is where those goals pay off.
Who Actually Reads a Progress Report
A report has more than one reader, and each one needs something different from it:
| Reader | What they need to find |
|---|---|
| Parents | Is my child improving? What changed in daily life? What can I do at home? |
| The clinical team | Which goals are met, which are stuck, and what changes in the plan? |
| The next specialist | Where exactly did the work stop, and at what level of support? |
| The center's management | Is the plan being followed, and is progress documented consistently? |
Most weak reports are written for only one of these readers. Some are full of clinical terms that parents can't follow. Others are warm and reassuring but carry no data the team can use. A good report serves both: data for the team, meaning for the family.
The Structure of a Good Progress Report
You can adapt the order to your center, but most useful reports contain these sections:
| Section | What it contains | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Header | Child's name, age, specialty, specialist, reporting period | A few lines |
| Attendance | Sessions planned, sessions attended, and any long gaps | One line |
| Summary | The two or three most important changes this period, in plain language | 3–4 sentences |
| Goal progress | Each active goal with baseline, current performance, and status | The main body |
| Plan changes | Goals met, added, adjusted, or paused, and why | A short list |
| Home recommendations | One or two specific activities the family can do | 2–3 lines |
| Next review | When progress will be reviewed again | One line |
Put attendance near the top. A child who attended 5 of 12 planned sessions will usually progress differently from one who attended all 12. Stating it clearly and neutrally helps everyone read the rest of the report correctly, without it sounding like blame.
Write the summary last. It is easier to pick the two or three changes that matter most after you've written every goal's progress.
How to Write Progress on Each Goal
This is the core of the report. For every goal, include four things:
- The goal as it is written in the plan.
- The baseline: performance when work on the goal started.
- Current performance: measured the same way as the baseline and the criterion.
- The status, plus one sentence on what it means and what comes next.
Current performance comes from your session data, so the report is only as clear as the notes behind it. Our guide to writing therapy session notes shows how to record it.
Use Clear Status Labels
Agree on a small set of status labels as a team, and define them so every specialist uses them the same way. For example:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Met | The success criterion has been reached as written in the goal |
| Progressing | Data shows steady movement toward the criterion |
| Emerging | The skill appears, but inconsistently or with a lot of support |
| Not yet progressing | No clear change after the agreed number of sessions, so the goal needs review |
| Paused / discontinued | Work stopped, with the reason stated |
Undefined labels like "good" or "improving" mean something different to each specialist, and parents can't compare them from one report to the next.
Four Examples
These examples build on goals from the measurable goals guide. The numbers are illustrative. Each child's report should reflect their own data.
1. Speech: articulation
- Goal: produces /s/ in the initial position of words with 80% accuracy when naming pictures, across 3 consecutive sessions.
- Baseline: 20% accuracy.
- Current: 75% accuracy in the last session, and above 70% across the last 4 sessions.
- Status: Progressing.
- What it means: Omar says /s/ correctly at the start of most words when naming pictures. The next step is using it in short phrases and in conversation.
2. Behavior: requesting a break
- Goal: requests a break using the word or a "break" card instead of leaving the task, in 80% of opportunities across 5 sessions.
- Baseline: 2 of 10 opportunities.
- Current: 8 of 10 opportunities across the last 5 sessions.
- Status: Met.
- What it means: Ahmed can tell us he needs a break instead of walking away. The next goal is returning to the task after a short break without reminders.
3. Daily living: hand-washing
- Goal: completes hand-washing steps in sequence using a visual schedule and without physical prompting in 4 of 5 opportunities.
- Baseline: completed 2 of 6 steps with full physical help.
- Current: completes all 6 steps with the visual schedule, but still needs hand-over-hand help to rinse in about half of opportunities.
- Status: Emerging.
- What it means: Lina knows the sequence and follows the pictures. Rinsing is the step we are practicing next.
4. Language: following directions
- Goal: follows unrelated two-step directions without visual cues in 4 of 5 trials across 3 consecutive sessions.
- Baseline: 1 of 5 trials.
- Current: 1 of 5 trials after 8 sessions.
- Status: Not yet progressing.
- What it means: see the next section.
How to Report Slow Progress Honestly
This is the part many specialists find hardest, and it's where trust is built or lost. A parent who reads "progressing well" for six months and then learns the goal was never close to being met will stop trusting every report that follows.
When a goal isn't moving, write three things:
- What the data shows, stated plainly.
- What was tried, such as the level of support, the materials, or the number of sessions.
- What changes next, such as a smaller step, a different kind of support, or a team review.
For the directions goal above, that could read:
Yousef followed two-step directions in 1 of 5 trials, the same as at the start of the period. He follows the first step consistently but often stops before the second. Next period, we will practice two-step directions with a picture of each step, then fade the pictures gradually, and review the goal with the team after 6 sessions.
This tells the parent the truth, shows that the team noticed, and gives a clear plan. Slow progress written this way reads as careful clinical work, not failure.
Be careful with explanations. It's appropriate to note factors that affected sessions, such as attendance, illness, or a change in medication reported by the family. Don't speculate about causes you haven't assessed, and don't frame the family as the reason for slow progress.
Translate Clinical Terms for Parents
Terms that are precise for the team often mean nothing to a parent. You don't need to remove them from the report, but add a plain explanation the first time you use one:
| Term | Plain explanation for parents |
|---|---|
| Baseline | Where your child was when we started working on this skill |
| Prompt | The help we give, such as pointing, showing, or guiding the hand |
| Independent | Your child did it without any help from us |
| Trials / opportunities | The number of times we gave your child the chance to do the skill |
| Criterion | The level we agreed means the goal is reached |
| Generalization | Using the skill in new places or with new people, not just in the therapy room |
The same idea applies to numbers. "80% accuracy" is clear to the team. For a parent, add: "that's about 8 out of 10 words said correctly."
From Vague to Useful: Rewriting Common Report Phrases
| Vague | Useful |
|---|---|
| He is doing great | Names 35 everyday objects, up from 12 at the start of the period |
| She is more cooperative | Stays at the table for a 5-minute activity with one reminder or less in 4 of 5 sessions, up from 1 of 5 |
| Some improvement in behavior | Screaming when an activity ends dropped from an average of 6 times per session to 3 |
| Needs more work on speech | Says /s/ correctly at the start of words 75% of the time; the next step is short phrases |
| Continue current plan | Continue goals 1 and 3; goal 2 is met and replaced with a new goal (see plan changes) |
Make Home Recommendations Specific
"Practice at home" is not a recommendation. Parents are busy, and a vague request is easy to forget. One or two specific activities, tied to a current goal, are more likely to be done:
- Vague: work on requesting at home.
- Specific: keep the picture cards for water and snacks on the fridge at your child's eye level. When they reach for something or pull your hand, point to the card and wait a few seconds before helping.
A good home recommendation says what to do, when, and how much help to give. It should take a few minutes of daily routine, not a second therapy session.
A Progress Report Template You Can Copy
PROGRESS REPORT Child: [name] Age: [age] Specialty: [speech / behavior / OT / ...] Specialist: [name] Period: [start date] – [end date] ATTENDANCE [X] of [Y] planned sessions attended. [Note any long gaps.] SUMMARY [2–3 plain-language sentences on the most important changes this period.] GOAL PROGRESS Goal 1: [goal as written in the plan] Baseline: [...] Current: [...] Status: [Met / Progressing / Emerging / Not yet progressing / Paused] What it means: [one plain sentence + next step] Goal 2: ... PLAN CHANGES - [Goal met / added / adjusted / paused] – [reason] AT HOME - [Specific activity: what, when, how much help] NEXT REVIEW [date or number of sessions]Checklist Before Sending a Report
- Does every goal show a baseline and current performance, measured the same way?
- Does every goal have a status from the team's agreed list?
- Is there a plain sentence explaining what each change looks like in daily life?
- Are goals that aren't progressing reported honestly, with a plan?
- Are clinical terms explained the first time they appear?
- Is attendance stated clearly and neutrally?
- Are home recommendations specific enough to act on tomorrow?
- Would another specialist know exactly where to continue from this report?
How Aghsan Helps
Most of the time spent on progress reports isn't writing. It's collecting: going back through session notes, spreadsheets, and messages to rebuild what happened over the period. When each session is already linked to the child's goals, that step mostly disappears.
In Aghsan, specialists record performance on each goal while documenting the session. When it's time for a report, you select the child and the period, and Aghsan compiles session notes and goal progress into a report you can review, adjust, and export as a PDF. Reports carry your center's name and logo, and you can share them with families through the parent portal, where parents can also follow goal progress between reports. Nothing reaches a parent without your approval.
This works best when the goals themselves are measurable. If you're setting up plans from scratch, start with our guide to writing measurable therapy goals and Aghsan's goal bank.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a therapy progress report be written?
Many centers share a short monthly update and a fuller report every three months or at the end of each plan period. The right rhythm depends on the center's policy, the number of sessions per week, and what families need. What matters most is that the timing is agreed in advance and kept.
What should a progress report include?
At minimum: the reporting period and attendance, each active goal with its baseline, current performance, and status, a short summary of what changed, any changes to the plan, and one or two specific recommendations for home.
How do I report a goal where the child made little or no progress?
State the data plainly, explain what was tried, and say what will change next period, such as adjusting the level of support, breaking the goal into smaller steps, or reviewing it with the team. Parents lose trust when reports hide slow progress, not when they explain it.
Should the report use percentages or descriptions?
Use both. The number shows the change clearly, and one plain sentence explains what that number looks like in daily life. A percentage without context confuses parents, and a description without data can't show progress.
Who should write the progress report?
The specialist who works directly on the goals should write their section, because they collected the data and know the context. In multidisciplinary centers, a supervisor or case coordinator often reviews the full report before it goes to the family.
